Traditional methods of design of a building, and in particular a residential building, are primarily accomplished based upon an effort to be attractive to a target market. For example, a community targeting young families will be designed with a different set of Objectives than a community targeting retirement age people. Design models are not able to quantify whether an intended Objective has been met because they are not equipped with a means to capture empirical data on an ongoing basis.
In addition to a lack of empirical data tracking whether a design Objective has been met, traditional models include very little by way of tracking Performance of a residential building. Typically, a service call to make a repair to a building, or to upgrade an aspect of the building, requires an onsite visit to survey an associated structure, equipment and appliances involved.
Similarly, while traditional methods of using automated design tools, such as AutoDesk™, have greatly increased the capabilities of virtual models of structures, very little has been done to quantify Performance of Design Features, such as walls, ingress/egress, windows, ceiling designs, textures, building materials, placement of structural beams, utilities and equipment.
More sophisticated design systems include “virtual reality” models. Virtual reality models may include two dimensional and/or three dimensional views from one or more user selected Vantage Points within the model of the structure. However, in general, access to the automated modeling ends with the construction of the building that has been modeled. Hard copy prints of a residential building may be available; however there is no guarantee that a building was constructed according to design plans or which equipment and appliances will be encountered.